It’s midmorning in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, I haven’t had any coffee yet, and I’m surrounded by garish monsters and ghouls. Of course, considering my location, supernatural characters come with the territory.
The building I find myself sitting in is known to residents up and down the east coast as Scarehouse, a well-publicized haunted attraction notable for its extremely detail oriented set-pieces. It’s the off-season and I’m here as part of a movie shoot that has decided to utilize Scarehouse’s intricate sets as some of the locations in the film. Considering the fact that I feel like I’m sitting in a real library rather than a mock-up haunted house version, I figure this was definitely a good move on the part of the filmmakers. The atmosphere of the location is certainly palatable, and I cannot help but feel that Mario Bava himself would be at home on some of the sets available to us within the building’s twisting corridors. Naturally, I feel right at home.
As lights and cameras are being set-up somewhere to my distant left, an enthusiastic make-up artist is vigorously turning the face I try so hard to keep exfoliated into the cracked and bloody visage of a man in the thrall of demonic possession. To my immediate right, indie scream queen Amy Lynn Best is going through a similar process, her trademark adorable smile slowly being surrounded by visceral tears of the flesh. The film, concerning a book club meeting gone horribly wrong, is the latest project by Mike Watt, a prolific independent filmmaker who has spent the last decade bringing his unique vision of horror to genre fans.
Watt and his wife, the aforementioned Amy Lynn Best, run Happy Cloud Pictures, a Pittsburgh-based film company that strives to make low-budget independent cinema without ever sacrificing quality. Happy Cloud, which was founded over a decade ago with the duo’s business partner Bill Homan, has been consistently producing horror and exploitation films that have featured some extremely notable names within the genre and won consistent praise amongst critics.
Because of their well-earned standing amongst their peers and the always innovative films they produce, it should come as no surprise that Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best have been marked by those of us here at Peaches Christ Productions as a pair of Cult Filmmakers You Should Know.
For those readers who are thinking it, I’ll admit up front that there is something of slight bias in this selection. My role as a demon marks the second Happy Cloud production I’ve had the opportunity to work on (the first being my role as a sarcastic news reporter in the comic-horror flick Demon Divas and the Lanes of Damnation), and throughout my time getting to know Mike and Amy, I feel ours has developed into a truly significant friendship. It’s no secret that I adore these two and if you have a problem with that, you’re probably reading the wrong article.
That said, as someone committed to the world of cult cinema, I am able to step outside of my personal relationship with the team at Happy Cloud and look at their body of work objectively. Just as I would tell Peaches if I thought her outfit was lacking in blood-stains, I would have no problem admitting if one of Mike or Amy’s movies fell a little short of expectations. However, I’m glad to say that based on their current body of work…that hasn’t happened yet.
In a world of independent cinema where emphasis is generally put on the shock and gore factor, Mike Watt has emerged amongst his peers as a writer with a true gift for storytelling. While the films of Happy Cloud Pictures certainly never lack in the viscera, they also always have compelling and interesting stories structured around them. These are cult films with the usual satire and camp, but they also beg more of the audience. The movies of Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best engage you and ask you to think about what you’re watching. In an era of disposable blockbuster trash, I cannot imagine anything more valuable.
Nearly a decade before our paths ever crossed, Happy Cloud Pictures was founded to create Watt’s first motion picture, The Resurrection Game. The film, which stars Amy Lynn Best and features a cameo by indie goddess Debbie Rochon, is arguably still the filmmaker’s most well-known piece. The story of a not-so-distant future wherein the living dead are an ambling way of life, evil corporations rule the media, and cloning is vast possibility, the film crosses the boundaries of straight zombie movie and offers something truly Orwellian in nature. Shot on film (which increasingly is becoming a rarity in the indie sector), The Resurrection Game also has the distinction of having introduced one of Happy Cloud’s most notorious creations: Necro-Phil.
For those not in the know, Necro-Phil is a zombie horror-host type character, who is in fact portrayed by a stylized puppet. Watt, a lifelong fan of Jim Henson and the Muppets, created Necro-Phil as something of a grim homage to the characters he grew up loving. The character is often considered the break-out scene stealer of The Resurrection Game, but more so than a mere novelty, Necro-Phil is indicative of a deeper thread within Watt’s works. Necro-Phil serves as a cracking sense of whimsy in a noir-ish, dark universe. The stark contrast is paramount to understanding Watt’s filmic modus operandi, which is a sense that there is always a little dose sarcasm or whimsy beneath the horror and pain. This layering of themes is ultimately what makes watching the films Happy Cloud creates such an inclusive experience for the audience, because there’s something there for everyone.
The Resurrection Game’s notoriety instantly earned Watt a place in the world of cult horror. The film found a home amongst zombie fans and dark sci-fi fans alike, and even spawned a novelized version which has earned critical notoriety of its own. It was inevitable that Happy Cloud Pictures would return to make another film. However, for the next go-round, Amy Lynn Best stepped forward, making her feature-length directorial debut with the team’s sophomore effort, Severe Injuries.
Based on a script by Watt and featuring 80s icon Brinke Stevens and Lloyd Kaufman (the notorious face of Troma), the film’s plot about an inept serial killer in competition with another murder truly put the duo’s comedic talents on display. Far less serious than The Resurrection Game, Severe Injuries played with the tropes of the slasher movie formula to hilarious effect, often surpassing in quality similar big budget efforts such as Scary Movie.
Perhaps more importantly, however, is that Severe Injuries proved to one and all that Amy Lynn Best was not a filmmaker merely living in the shadow of her husband. With sharp direction and elegant timing, Best proved that she was a filmmaker to be praised and whose work deserved notice.
With their first two films, Watt and Best were able to showcase each of their individual talents both in front of and behind the camera. While they both proved more than efficient as individual entities, what truly makes their work so significant is the fact that the two have found that most precarious balance that some artistic partnerships struggle to find their entire careers. Whether he is writing and she’s directing, or he’s directing and she’s starring, Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best have found that by bringing their individual talents together into one cohesive whole, the films that result are truly something remarkable. Both have worked independently of one another on projects, and admittedly, the work they have done solo is also quite good. However, for me, the reason I chose to make this article about both of them is owed largely to the fact that I believe they have a creative symbiosis that, when together, produces something truly special.
The purpose of The Cult Filmmakers You Should Know series is to introduce you, the children of the popcorn, to filmmakers whose work in horror, exploitation, and cult cinema is a wholly unique experience and provides that thrill of seeing a beloved movie for the very first time. Believe me when I say that when these two are together, they fulfill that promise.
To be sure, for as unique as their works are, Watt and Best love to play with the usual expectations of the horror movie, such as in their third film A Feast of Flesh and the more recent Demon Divas and the Lanes of Damnation. The former is prime viewing for horror fans who have seen one low-budget lesbian vampire film too many. Initially seemingly setting itself up as just another of this style of film, it isn’t long before the viewer realizes that the movie itself is a sly commentary on the kind of film it appears to be. A Feast of Flesh also features a rare onscreen role for Watt (who previously appeared in a smaller part in The Resurrection Game), who sports a pan-European brogue that remains one of my favorite performances in Happy Cloud’s filmography.
Similarly to A Feast of Flesh, Demon Divas, as mentioned, shares this spirit of the self-reflective lampoon. Meant as an homage to the sleazy scream queen flicks of the 80s, the movie is something of a spiritual cousin of David DeCoteau’s Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama. Set in a bowling alley run by heinous demonic forces, Demon Divas features a bevy of notable scream queens (Brinke Stevens, Debbie Rochon, Robyn Griggs… to name a few) in featured roles and plays as a love letter to the very films most of us grew up watching. The first time I saw a rough cut of Demon Divas, it reminded me of the exact kind of flick I’d watch on USA Up All Night in rapt, geek-filled glee. It’s a film which I am immensely proud to be have been involved with, and I feel that due to its stylized presentation, Mike and Amy were able to make 80s horror live again, if only for one brief moment.
In my mind, however, Happy Cloud’s most significant triumph comes in the form of a motion picture titled Splatter Movie: The Director’s Cut. Written by Watt and directed by Best, Splatter Movie is one of the single most awe-inducing efforts in horror writing I have ever seen. Seemingly a typical slasher at first, the audience learns that they are actually witnessing a film crew in the process of creating a slasher movie. As the film crew works to make their film, their exploits are being monitored by a documentary film crew (look for Alan Rowe Kelly, last week’s Cult Filmmaker You Should Know, in the role of the documentarian) who are making their own film about the making of the horror flick. However, when an actual, bona fide real killer starts stalking the set, illusion and reality become blurred. When a murder occurs, are we seeing the truth…or just the movie within the movie?
A brilliant exercise in meta-filmmaking, Splatter Movie is one of the few films I have ever seen that honestly asks the audience to doubt their own perceptions on such an intricate level. With three layers of potential film playing out across the screen, the moments of doubt and uncertainty are equally jarring and sublime. If it sounds slightly confusing, it’s supposed to be. This is an exercise in mind-boggling, Lynchian horror that borders on a breaking point with sanity. Never once does the film take a moment to give the audience a knowing wink or inclusive smile, but rather uses its layers to fully draw the viewer in as part of its enveloping, reality destroying madness. Featuring a stand-out performance from The Evil Dead’s Tom Sullivan, Splatter Movie is truly a culmination of all the great things that Best and Watt can achieve together.
Funny and serious, intellectual and sleazy…the films of Happy Cloud Pictures truly cover the gamut. When one takes a step back and considers the array of themes and subjects within the works of Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best, it’s almost staggering to consider that such a vast field of content came from just two people.
As the final bloody contusions are applied to my face and I am whisked off to do battle with one the film’s leads in a room that we’ll share with an animatronic Lovecraftian monster, I cannot help but feel a sense of pride that I am, in a small way, part of their great body of work. Not just because I know and love Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best, but because when all is said and done, these two make the kind of movies that inspired people like Peaches Christ and myself to love horror in the first place. In short, the films of Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best are horror movies for people who love horror.
So I urge you, the children of the popcorn, to take a moment and get possessed by these wonderful filmmakers the way I have been. In discovering their works, I can guarantee that it is a decision you will not regret.
Until next time!
